Products Google KILLED
0 up · 0 down · 0 ratings
Promos
The first 200 people who head to brilliant.org will get 20% off their annual premium subscription of Brilliant. Here's a look at some notable products Google has killed off. Techquickie Merch Store: lttstore.com Follow: twitter.com Leave a reply with your requests for future episodes, or tweet them here: twitter.com
The video opens by setting expectations about how many Google products have been killed over the years, noting that around 200 have been axed and that covering every single one would be impossible. It then dives into early Google offerings, starting with Google Answers from 2001, which aimed to provide curated answers from Google staff rather than random internet users. The host explains how Google Answers charged a small fee, allowed tips for staff, and earned a cult following before its user base failed to grow sufficiently, leading to its shutdown in 2006, with a continued free iteration until 2014 in certain regions. The narrative then shifts to Google Video, launched in 2005 as a repository for searchable videos, and contrasts it with YouTube, emphasizing that Google Video was merged into YouTube and shut down in 2012. Moving to hardware, the video covers failed devices such as the Nexus Q from 2012, a stylish but overpriced streaming media player that could cast from Google Play or YouTube and integrate with Google devices, yet priced at $300 and plagued by buggy companion apps, ultimately being replaced by Chromecast. The final discussed product is Google Clips, a 2018 AI-powered camera designed to auto-activate when something interesting happens, but with limitations such as no audio capture, low frame rate, fixed focus, small storage, high price at $250, and a questionable concept of “interesting” content, leading to its discontinuation in 2019. The host wraps by inviting suggestions for future episodes and cross-promotes Brilliant.org as a problem-solving learning platform, punctuating the video with a call to action to subscribe and engage with future topics.
Topics · technology · consumer-electronics · video-sharing · internet-services
Questions answered
- Why did Google Answers shut down and how did its business model differ from typical Google services?
- Google Answers shut down because the user base never grew large enough to sustain the service, and Google concluded there were easier, scalable ways to provide information without employing a dedicated team of staffers. The service charged a small fee and allowed tips, but it did not achieve broad adoption.
- What was the Nexus Q and why did it fail as a product?
- The Nexus Q was a $300 streaming media player with basic functionality and a premium feature set, but it faced poor pricing, buggy companion apps, and limited practical value, leading Google to pivot to Chromecast instead.